Chapter I: The Company You Keep
by Squirrel Patronus
Summary: My OC, Wendy Nott (first appearance in "Slytherin Sisters") receives her Hogwarts invitation. She meets Severus and Eileen Snape at Diagon Alley. Good omen or not? Severus, Eileen, Ollivander, Aunt Muriel and Narcissa belong to J.K. Rowling. All other characters are mine.


Wendy's owl from Hogwarts arrived on August 12, 1971 at 8:30 a.m. She was at the shore cottage with her mother and sister when the large barn owl flew in through the kitchen window. It was the day after her eleventh birthday.

"It looks like you have a letter, Wendy." Her mother, Pandora, smiled over her teacup. Even her sister, Winifred, who never seemed interested in anything she did, looked up from her breakfast.

Wendy ran her fingers over the envelope. The paper was stiff, creamy vellum. In elegant script it was addressed to Miss Wendoline Athena Nott, Coral Cottage, Bree-by-the-Sea, U.K. She gently broke the red wax seal and read it out loud.

"Oh, mother, look! The term begins September 1! That means that I need to send my response back by..." she scanned the letter and gasped "Today!"

"Well, it's not as if you are going to say no," Winifred mumbled. She had also received a letter-a list of her required third year books and supplies.

Pandora waved her wand and a small card, envelope and quill appeared before Wendy.

"Congratulations, darling! Write out your response now so that the owl does not have to wait."

Wendy wrote "Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, I most graciously accept." She signed her name with a flourish and gave the letter to the owl. She watched the bird fly out the window towards the horizon until it was no more than a small black dot which disappeared.

"Well, this letter has certainly come at the right time!" Pandora said cheerfully. "It is time to clean and close up the cottage for the season's end. I will send an owl to your father to tell him the good news. I'll request that he leave a deposit for me at Gringott's when we go to Diagon Alley."

Pandora hugged her daughter and tousled her brown curls.

"Today is a day that you will always remember, Wendy! A true landmark event in your life!"

Wendy beamed. She had been looking forward to this day ever since she was a small child. Her mother and her mother's friends had told her wonderful stories of their years spent as students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had barely been able to suppress her envy and impatience when Winifred's owl had arrived two years ago. Now it was her turn.

"I wonder what House I will be sorted into," Wendy mused later on as she and Winifred washed the windows. The girls were two years apart in age, with light brown hair and slight frames. Winifred had lank, straight hair which she usually wore in two long plaits. The expressions on her narrow face alternated between nervous and annoyed. She rarely smiled. Wendy had abundant, loose curls which framed a thin face which was usually smiling. She did not smile as much as she used to after Winifred had told her that the tiny gap between her two front teeth was unsightly.

"What do you mean? You'll be sorted into Slytherin, you goose!" Winifred squinted at the glass and rubbed at a spot that she had missed. She had been sorted into Slytherin, like her parents and three of her grandparents.

"Does the Sorting Hat always put you into the same House as your family members?" Wendy asked.

"What sort of question is that? No, it doesn't always put everyone from the same family into the same House, but it usually does. Family loyalty and tradition count! You aren't considering another House, are you?" Winifred eyed Wendy suspiciously.

"No. I just wanted to know. I mean, everyone in our family is in Slytherin, just as all of the Prewetts were sorted into Gryffindor."

"That's right," Winifred nodded. "You'll like being in Slytherin with me, Wendy! The Common Room is so grand-it is right under the lake! You can actually see the fish and sometimes the giant squid will swim by the windows! Verena Pucey claims that she saw merpeople, but I don't believe her. Andromeda Black is our prefect-she is wonderful!"

"It does sound appealing," Wendy admitted. She could not confide in her sister that she had some reservations about Slytherin. It was her mother's House, but it was also the House of her fearsome father. Winifred had celebrated her birthday three weeks before and Wendy had met some of her sister's Slytherin dormmates.

Verena Pucey and Raina Rothschild had seemed pleasant enough, but Narcissa Black was cold and snobby. She had barely said a word to anyone and refused to participate in the games. During most of the party she had sat by herself, examining a small enamelled compact that Pandora had given to each of the guests. She had left early, before the cake was served.

"I'm going to ask Mother if we can go to Diagon Alley on Wednesday. That's when Narcissa, Julia and Magdalene are going." Magdalene and Julia were Narcissa's best friends. They had both declined to attend Winifred's party. Wendy wondered why her sister wanted to be friends with these girls.

"I don't understand why Mother cannot bring Murk here to do the housework," Winifred said crossly as the bucket of water slopped over. "Without wands it is so tedious! I cannot wait until I'm seventeen and won't have to do these boring household chores by hand!"

"Mother sometimes does them without her wand," Wendy responded. "She says that you shouldn't be dependent on your wand for everything. It makes one lazy. Besides, Murk is Father's elf. Father needs him at the big house when we're away."

"I cannot imagine why he needs the elf at the big house. He's hardly ever home!" Winifred grumbled as she attacked a cobweb with a feather duster. Wendy nodded silently. Their father was a shadowy presence in their lives.

Wendy darted ahead of her mother and sister between the crowds in Diagon Alley. The street was livelier than she had ever seen it. The last weeks of summer had brought out the school shoppers and the stores were thick with Hogwarts students and their families. Wendy recognized some of them from the pure-blood parties that she had been invited to attend. She recognized others as children from her village. There were many, many others who were strangers to her. She tried not to stare at the muggle-born children. They were easy to spot. They did not wear robes and their shoes were different. Most of them wore canvas shoes with rubber soles. They looked stunned, unsure of themselves in this environment. Some of them were with their parents who also looked bewildered. All of them were accompanied by a witch or wizard who had been appointed to guide them through the strange world of wizard banking and merchandise.

"Mudbloods," her father called them. Wendy thought that the name sounded harsh and ugly. Her mother had instructed both her and Winifred never to use that term.

"Your father believes that muggle-borns do not belong at Hogwarts or in the magical world," Pandora informed them. "He calls them mudbloods but I don't want to hear either of you saying it. You shouldn't associate with them, but don't call them that, either. Muggle-born is the appropriate term."

Wendy glanced at two muggle-born boys as they exited Flourish and Blotts. One was redheaded and freckled, the other was a tall black boy. They were both wearing dark blue pants made of a heavy canvas material and the strange canvas rubber-soled shoes. The black boy was wearing a black cotton short-sleeved shirt. In the center was an oval emblem which was the silhouette of a bat. What did that mean? It certainly wasn't the emblem for the Ballycastle Bats quidditch team.

"Don't run so far ahead of us, Wendy," Pandora called. She handed Wendy a cauldron full of books. "Here are your schoolbooks. I also bought you that new book by Newt Scamander."

"Thanks, Mother!" Wendy could not wait to read the new books. Her mother had quite some time getting her to leave Flourish and Blotts, which was her favorite store.

She had read almost every book in the library in the family home. When she was seven years old she had made it her personal goal. That had followed a visit to the Prewetts. Mr. Prewett's Aunt Muriel had been visiting. She eyed Wendy and Winifred sharply after they had shaken hands with her and introduced themselves.

"So, you are Pandora Lloyd-Jones' daughters?"

"Pandora Nott's daughters," Mrs. Prewett corrected her.

"You look like your mother," Aunt Muriel told Wendy. She turned to Mrs. Prewett. "They aren't very pretty, are they? Let's hope that at least they are smart."

When they returned home Winifred had gone up to her room to sulk. Wendy went to the library and surveyed the hundreds of books on the shelves. She pulled the first tome from the top shelf-"A History of Magic in the United Kingdom, Volume I" by Bathilda Bagshot.

"I'll show that old bat," she thought as she began to read the first chapter. Years later she decided that if she did see Aunt Muriel again she would hug her. The woman's wayward comment had instilled a hunger for learning and a love of books.

"Wendy! Look sharp!" Wendy snapped back to alertness. Her mother and sister were entering Ollivander's Wand Shop.

The interior of the shop was dark and dusty. Wendy blinked, accustoming her eyes to the dimness. Thousands of narrow boxes were piled against the walls, rising up to the ceiling. At least she assumed that they reached up to the ceiling. It was so dark that she could not see past a certain point.

Mr. Ollivander was busy with a customer. Pandora sat on the lone chair to wait. Winifred folded her arms over her chest and let out an exasperated sigh.

"The last one was a bit too springy," Wendy heard Mr. Ollivander say in his soft voice. "Try this one-it is a bit firmer."

A chubby girl with a brown pageboy haircut firmly grasped the wand. She waved her wand in a fast whipping motion. Mr. Ollivander ducked behind the counter as the wand emitted a loud blast of sparks. The back blast shot the girl like a cannonball across the room where Wendy broke her fall.

"Umph!" Wendy tried to lift the weight of the girl off of her stomach. The girl pulled her up from the floor. Her face was bright red.

"Are you all right? I am so sorry! I guess that wand was too unyielding. That's the fifth one that Mr. Ollivander has given to me to test. I hope that I find a wand before I deplete the entire stock of his shop." She looked glum.

"Don't worry," Wendy assured her "My mother told me that she had to try out eight wands before the right one found her."

"I remember that," Mr. Ollivander nodded. "Pandora Lloyd-Jones. Ash and phoenix feather, seven and three quarter inches. Very springy. Ahh, that gives me an idea."

Mr. Ollivander rummaged through several of the boxes and handed the girl a dark wand.

"Cherry wood and phoenix feather, eight inches, firm, but some flexibility. Give it a wave."

The girl took the wand and gave it a wave. A shower of white sparks streamed from the wand, forming a small cloud formation. She gave a whoop of excitement.

"This is it! This is my wand! I'll take it!" She paid Mr. Ollivander and turned to Wendy. "Thanks for the encouragement. I'm Margaret Hodge. I hope that I see you at Hogwarts!" The girl smiled.

"I'm Wendy Nott. I hope that I see you there too!"

"Well, I have to go now, Wendy. My parents and brothers are waiting for me at the apothecary. They are probably wondering if I got lost! Goodbye!" The bell rang as Margaret hurried out through the door.

"Well, Wendoline Nott, what will it be for you? A springy, flexible wand like your mother's? Or one that is brittle, like your sister'syew wood and dragon heartstring, correct? Your father's was black walnut with dragon heartstring. Hard and unyielding. Hmmmso many different wands in the same family!" Mr. Ollivander stared at her for a moment with unblinking eyes. Wendy squirmed under his gaze. She felt like one of the specimens under glass in her grandfather's curio cabinet.

"Try this one. Willow wood with unicorn hair. Nine inches, very swishy."

Wendy grasped the wand and gave it a sweeping wave. Nothing. Mr. Ollivander handed her another.

"Beechwood with dragon heartstring. Eight and a half inches, slightly flexible."

Wendy gave a wave with the wand. This time a small pinpoint of light glowed at the tip, but nothing more. She felt foolish.

"Maple and phoenix feather, ten inches. Quite springy."

Wendy grasped the wand. It slipped easily into her right hand. The hilt felt warm and firm in her fist. She gave a swift, strong wave. White, silver and gold sparks sprayed a line across the counter. Wendy let out a little cry and punched her fist in the air. Mr. Ollivander nodded and smiled.

"Well done, Miss Nott!" he said as Pandora paid him.

Wendy waited for her mother and sister outside of Twilfit & Tattings. She had been fitted for her school robes, but the crowds inside were thick and she needed air. She decided to wait outside while Pandora completed the purchase. The shop window displayed an assortment of scarves, hats and mittens in the various House colors. There was the silver and green of Slytherin, the red and gold of Gryffindor

"Did you find your colors?" Wendy turned to face a tall young man in a dark blue robe. He was carrying several bags with the Twilfit & Tattings emblemtwo ornate gold T's against a black background.

"NoI haven't been sorted yet. I'll be attending Hogwarts in a few weeks."

"Well then, I hope to see you in my House-Ravenclaw! I'm Jonathan Davies." The young man smiled and held out his hand. He was dark-haired, but his eyes were pale blue.

"Wendy Nott." She shook his hand firmly.

"There you are, Wendy!" Winifred's exasperated voice shrilled behind her. "Mother is looking for you-oh, hello Jonathan!" Two spots of pink appeared on Winifred's cheeks.

"Hello, Winifred-is it? You're in Slytherin, right?" Jonathan inquired.

"Yes." Winifred turned scarlet, but she gave him one of her rare smiles.

"Well, I'll see you and Wendy at Hogwarts. Nice to meet you!" Jonathan turned and walked down the street. Winifred stared after him.

"You were talking to Jonathan Davies," she said in a low voice.

"He introduced himself to me. He seems quite nice," Wendy replied.

"Nice? Nice!" Winifred turned to face her sister. "Jonathan Davies is the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team! He is one of the handsomest and most popular boys in the school! All you can say is that he is nice? You don't get it, do you?"

"What is there to get?" Wendy snapped.

"Wendy, you have a lot to learn." Winfred gave a sigh and took Wendy's hands into hers. "Hogwarts is a big school, but you will make friends there. It is just important that you make friends with the right people. You will be judged by the company you keep."

"You mean pure-bloods, don't you?"

"Well, that goes without saying. There are pure-bloods whom you should associate with and others who will tarnish your reputation. Jonathan is one of the right people. That clumsy fat girl at Ollivander's is not."

"I think that my judgment is good," Wendy said coldly.

"Of course it is. I'm giving you this advice as a sister. Reputation is important! Come, Mother is waiting for us!"

"I just want to stop at Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy a new carrying cage for Ptolemy," Pandora said as they made their way down the street. Ptolemy was Winifred's owl. She would be sharing him with Wendy at Hogwarts.

Winifred was not paying attention to her mother. She was staring at a group of girls who were several paces ahead of them.

"Narcissa! Julia! Magdalene!" she called. The girls did not respond to her calls. They turned into Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. Winifred turned to her mother with pleading eyes.

"Go ahead and catch up with your friends, Winifred. Wendy and I will meet you there later." Winifred ran down the street, unmindful of the people whom she bumped into and the small sidewalk display of amulets that she upset in her haste.

"I won't be long, Wendy." Pandora walked over to a display of owl carriers. Wendy wandered into the connecting store, which was the magical menagerie. Other magical creatures were sold here apart from the owls. There was a puffskein pen in the corner. A small crup ("Tail cropped free of charge upon purchase!") barked at her, waving its forked tail. Wendy passed a terrarium filled with toads and walked to the back of the shop where the cats were. Black, white, tortoiseshell and tabby. She loved stroking them. A slender, sand-colored one jumped onto the table in front of her. The cat's face, tail and paws were a dark sable, but its eyes were bright sapphire blue.

"Oh, you are lovely!" Wendy stroked the cat under its chin. Its eyes narrowed into slits of pleasure. A low, rumbling purr hummed through its throat.

"Come along, Wendy, it's time to go! Oh, and bring your cat with you!"

"My cat!" Wendy faced Pandora, delighted and surprised. "Thank you, Mother, but you really didn't have to buy me a cat! I'm willing to share Ptolemy with Winifred."

"You will. Owls are certainly the most useful pets to have at Hogwarts, but you cannot cuddle them and they must stay in the owlery. A cat will sleep on your bed and will always be there to listen to you when you feel alone. My friend Ethel Carrington had a beautiful white cat named Tybalt. Stroking his fur was very soothing." Wendy kissed her mother and wondered how and why Pandora was able to guess her feelings so well.

"I think that we can stop for ice cream before the apothecary shop. There's your sister. Go sit with her while I get the ice cream inside."

Wendy nodded. She picked her way through the cluster of outdoor tables to the one where Winifred was sitting. She was alone. A bowl of untouched vanilla ice cream had melted into a puddle. The Siamese cat jumped onto the table and began lapping it up.

"Where are your friends, Winifred?"

"They were two people ahead of me on line when I went into the ice cream parlour. Before I could say anything Julia asked Narcissa how my party was. Narcissa didn't look at me, but she said in a loud voice that it was nothing special. She said that it was boring and that the favors Mother gave were tacky. She said that the cottage was small and pokey," Winifred whispered in a trembling voice. Large tears splashed down onto the table.

"She said that? How rude! Don't cry, Winifred! Who cares what she thinks?"

"I care!" Winifred cried in a strangled voice.

"Why should you care? Narcissa Black is a bore and a snob! She certainly has nerve calling Coral Cottage pokey!" Wendy said heatedly. "She's so stuck-up I'll bet she thinks that her own poo doesn't stink!"

"Wendy! Where did you learn such a horrible expression?"

"I heard Aunt Brunella say it about someone, except she didn't say poo. It certainly fits Narcissa Black!" Winifred did not negate her. Either she agreed, or she simply had no good response. The cat licked the ice cream from its whiskers and nuzzled Winifred's hand.

"Her name is Ling. She likes it when you scratch her behind her ears," Wendy told her sister.

Wendy was relieved that the apothecary was the last stop. She was tired and her feet ached from walking up and down the hilly, cobble-stoned streets. She placed her books, cauldron and supplies next to the bag with her school robes and sat on a small wooden bench in the shop. Winifred sat next to her and Ling curled up on Wendy's lap. The clerk was engaged in a heated argument with a woman whose back was turned to them. A young boy stood next to her.

"Seven galleons for 32 dried billywig stings? That's thievery!" The woman's voice was flinty and harsh. Wendy stared at her back. She had heard that voice before.

"Supply shortage this year, ma'am. I don't set the prices. These are imported from Australia and the market..."

"Oh, save your half-arsed explanations! You are a criminal, taking advantage of hard-working witches and wizards with your inflated prices!" The witch continued her tirade. Her son slowly turned around. Wendy gasped.

It had been two years since she had seen Severus Snape and his mother, Eileen. Their first and last visit had been unpleasant. Severus had argued with Winifred, who had ended up face down in a pigsty. Eileen Snape had insulted her mother. Pandora would not tell the girls the specifics, but she had not invited the Snapes back again.

Severus had grown taller, and if possible, uglier. His skin was sallower, his long black hair greasier and his teeth looked more crooked and yellower than she remembered. His large, hooked nose was the most prominent thing about him. It poked out between the greasy strands of hair which hid most of his face. He was wearing muggle clothes, but Wendy could tell that there was something wrong about them. The dark blue canvas trousers which she has seen on many of the other muggle children did not fit him well. They were too big in the waist, which he had unsuccessfully cinched in with a frayed rope for a belt, and too short in the leg, exposing skinny, pale ankles. His socks had fallen down into his shoes, which were scuffed and warn out at the toes. Although the day was warm, he was wearing a man's black coat which was too large for him. The long wide sleeves and flapping coat-tails made him look like a bat.

"Hello, Eileen."

Eileen Snape turned away from the clerk and faced Pandora. Her appearance shocked Wendy. She was the same age as Pandora, but looked a decade older. Her oily black hair was streaked with grey and brushed back into a clumsy bun. Deep lines furrowed her forehead above thick, black eyebrows. Her boney collarbones protruded above the neckline of a thin cotton blouse which was stained in the front. The hem of her skirt was crooked and the waist slipped down on her hipbones, exposing the frayed waistband of her knickers. Her mouth curled into an unpleasant smile.

"Well, Pandora, it has been a while since we last spoke, hasn't it? Buying school supplies for your daughters, I see." Her eyes rested on the Twilfit & Tattings bag.

"Ah, I see that your mother purchased your robes at Twilfit & Tattings! Now aren't you the lucky girls to have such fancy new finery! So very lucky!" Eileen said bitterly.

"I bought Wendy the standard regulation robes and hat," Pandora said sharply. "You and I used to shop at Twilfit & Tattings every summer before school started. It was your favorite clothing store. You said that all others were inferior!"

"Now I do remember saying that!" Eileen Snape let out a cackling laugh. "I see that you heeded my advice, Pandora! It was always nothing but the best for you!"

"It still is. Nothing but the best for myself and my children!" Pandora said icily.

Wendy's heart beat rapidly in her chest. The clerk behind the counter looked uncomfortable. He had removed the wand from his belt and was gripping it in his right hand.

"Are we going to Twilfit & Tattings, Mam?" Severus' voice pierced the tense silence. "We still need to buy my school robes."

"No, Severus, we are not going to Twilfit & Tattings! A posh store like that doesn't cater to the likes of us! You will be getting your school clothes at Second-Hand Robes! Just because they are used doesn't mean that they are bad! Good day to you, Pandora!" Eileen gave her son a hard shove towards the door.

Wendy watched as they walked into the street. The two muggle boys whom she had seen at Flourish & Blotts were standing on the corner. The elderly wizard who was accompanying them was fanning himself with a leaf-shaped fan. The redheaded boy poked his friend in the arm and pointed at Eileen and Severus.

"Cor! There goes Olive Oyl and Batman!"

"Nananananananana-Batman!" The black boy bawled after them. He and his ginger friend roared with laughter. Wendy did not understand what they said, but their mocking tones conveyed the message clearly. Pandora stared at the retreating figures of Eileen and Severus. Her angry scowl softened into a sad frown.

"Girls, you must be kind to Severus." Pandora usually did not give commands to her daughters. Her tone was firm.

Winifred opened her mouth to protest, but thought better of it.

"All right, Mother," she said sullenly.

"I certainly won't be seeing a lot of the little creep," she muttered under her breath.

"I'll be kind to him, Mother," Wendy said reluctantly. She wondered if she could. The boy was surly, condescending and unfriendly. Well, Pandora hadn't instructed her to be his friend. Just to be kind.

Wendy thought about Severus Snape purchasing his robes in Second-Hand Robes and his cauldron in the junk shop. She imagined hearing Eileen's angry, shrill voice arguing with shop clerks and other customers as her son tried to make himself invisible. His mother could not afford an owl, and Wendy doubted that she would even buy him a toad.

What had happened to the woman? She had been Pandora's friend. Wendy had seen photos of them as young girls at Hogwarts. Eileen was not pretty and she had not been smiling in a lot of the photos, but her hair and clothes had been clean and neat. Eileen had looked slightly tattered and care-worn when she had visited two years ago, but she had now clearly given up on herself. A woman who had given up on herself would not notice that her child was unwashed and dressed in ill-fitting clothes. A woman who had given up on herself would not think to buy her child an ice cream after a day's shopping was done, or a pet to comfort him while he was away at school.

"A Sickle for your thoughts, Wendy?" Pandora asked.

"I just thought that it would be nice if Severus had a cat at Hogwarts," Wendy replied.

"Yes," Pandora said sadly. "I certainly agree." She reached over and stroked Ling's soft fur. Wendy did the same. A cat could not solve all of your problems, but the stroking sensations seemed to work their own type of magic. Wendy felt less sad. Today was her day, and she was not going to let any bad feelings spoil the memory, either for herself or her mother. She slipped her hand into Pandora's as they exited the shop and stepped back into the busy, crowded street.


End file.
